More importantly, this highway is an imperative supply route from Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, who maintains control over much of the Idlib Governorate, including Idlib city and parts of Jisr Al-Shughour.

The Jisr Al-Shughour area is completely controlled by jihadist groups, including the foreigner-led Turkestan Islamic Party.

Turkey currently possesses twelve observation posts in northwestern Syria; they were established shortly after the September 17, 2018 Sochi Agreement between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.